The Kingdom of Pagan (also commonly known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire) was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Burma (Myanmar). Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and in mainland Southeast Asia.

Pope Benedict XVI arrives at the Santa Sabina Basilica for the Ash Wednesday service on March 9, 2011 in Rome, Italy. Ash Wednesday opens the liturgical 40-day period of Lent, a period of prayer, fasting, penitence and alms giving leading up to Easter.

Visitors visit the Nanjing Museum in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, September 26, 2024. By the end of August 2024, the 6,833 museums officially registered in China have received 940 million visitors. (Photo by CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

A cat looks on near the Victory Pillar at the ruins of the Serapeum of Alexandria, an ancient Greek temple dating to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (246 BC – 391 AD) dedicated to the city's protector deity Serapis, in Egypt's northern coastal city of Alexandria on November 24, 2023. The giant Corinthian column, commonly misidentified as “Pompey's Pillar”, is a Roman triumphal column set up in honour of the Roman emperor Diocletian (298–302 AD), and originally supported a colossal porphyry statue of the emperor in armour. (Photo by Amir Makar/AFP Photo)

“Unexpected humour”. The Dog and the Faucet, in Kolkata, India on January 2017. (Photo by Pau Buscató/The Guardian)

Spot-billed pelican interact on the banks of an artificial lake in Colombo on September 28, 2021. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

Giant panda Shuixiu's two babies are pictured at their room in Shenshuping base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda on November 3, 2021 in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province of China. (Photo by An Yuan/China News Service via Getty Images)

A fisherman sorts his fishing net at Kedonganan beach in Bali, Indonesia, 08 November 2024. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on 05 November 2024 has issued a policy that will grant debt relief to fishermen and farmers, by canceling non-performing loans for micro, small, and medium enterprises in the fisheries, agriculture and maritime sectors. (Photo by Made Nagi/EPA)